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With web sales soaring, it’s PRTY time for retailer Party City

April 8, 2015 01:13 PM

One of the largest multichannel party supplies retailers formally filed to sell up to $372 million worth of stock in an upcoming initial public offering. As part of its filing Party City Holdings reported $160 million in web sales last year. An Internet Retailer analysis suggests the web accounted for more than 20% of the company’s growth over the past five years.

Party City says it plans to sell 21.875 million shares of stock on the New York Stock Exchange valued at $15-$17 per share under the ticker symbol “PRTY”, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The retailer, No. 222 in the Internet Retailer 2014 Top 500 Guide, cites e-commerce and mobile commerce as areas of growth potential in the SEC filing.

“We have broadened the products and services available to our customers through our retail e-commerce channel,” the filing states. “We have launched a mobile application that ensures a seamless experience between online, mobile and physical interactions and includes functionality to assist customers in coordinating their shopping experience as they plan theme parties.”

Party City relaunched its e-commerce site in the summer of 2009 and has registered dramatic growth in web sales during the past five years. The retailer sold $160 million online in 2014, according to its SEC filing, up from $13.4 million in 2010, according to Top500Guide.com, an increase of 1,094%.

In that time, total revenue has grown steadily but not as dramatically to $2.271 billion in 2014 from $1.599 billion in 2010, a 42.0% increase. That suggests that the web accounted for nearly 22% of its 2010-2014 revenue growth. Part of the overall growth came from Party City’s 2013 acquisition of rival iParty for a reported $35 million.

Party City sells 35,000 products through its website, PartyCity.com, and operates distribution centers in five countries on three continents.